Guide

How to record system audio on a Mac

Last updated: October 3, 2026

macOS has no built-in way to record its own audio. QuickTime's audio recorder and the screen-recording toolbar capture from input devices, meaning your microphone, and the system mix (the audio you actually hear) is not an input device, so they record silence or room echo instead. Every working method adds software, and it reaches your audio one of two ways: a virtual audio device your Mac plays into (an installer, an administrator password, and your volume keys stop working while it is the output), or an Apple capture API that reads the audio directly (a Core Audio process tap from macOS 14.2, ScreenCaptureKit from macOS 13; nothing installed, one recording permission). If your Mac is recent enough, the no-driver route is simpler and leaves your normal output and volume untouched.

That's the short version. Below: why the built-in recorders come back silent, what each mechanism costs you, the tools worth knowing about, the steps, and the MP3 catch nobody mentions.

Why QuickTime records silence

Open QuickTime, choose New Audio Recording, and the source list offers microphones. That's the whole story in one screenshot: macOS lets apps record from input devices, and the mix of everything currently playing is an output, not an input. The same applies to the screen recorder, which is why a screen capture of a video call or a game comes back with picture and no sound.

Check it in a minute. Apple's QuickTime audio recording guide offers one source option, a microphone. The Audacity manual says it flatly: "Mac computers have no built-in ability to record streaming audio playing on a sound device." And the OBS desktop audio guide confirms the newer route: from macOS 13 its macOS Audio Capture source needs no additional software, while older macOS versions do.

Older guides fix this by having you install Soundflower or BlackHole: a virtual audio device that manufactures an input carrying a copy of whatever is sent to it. That advice still works. It's just no longer the only way, and for most people no longer the best one.

The two ways software can hear your Mac's audio

1. A virtual audio device

You install a driver that shows up as a fake output. You switch your Mac's sound output to it, and everything the Mac plays lands in the device, where a recorder can read it back as an input. It works on any macOS version, and it comes with real costs:

• Installation needs an administrator password, because an audio driver is a system component.
• You stop hearing your audio the moment you switch output to the virtual device, so you also build a Multi-Output Device combining it with your speakers.
• Your volume keys die. A Multi-Output Device has no master volume, so macOS greys the keys out; see Mac volume keys not working for why. Forgetting to switch back afterwards is also the classic "my Mac has no sound" mystery.

2. An Apple capture API, no driver

Since macOS 14.2, an app can ask the system for the audio directly. Apple documents this as capturing system audio with Core Audio taps. Screen recorders such as OBS Studio use a sibling API, ScreenCaptureKit, which has carried app and system audio since macOS 13. Nothing is installed, there is no password, and your chosen output device, its volume and your volume keys all keep working while the recording runs. The one thing macOS asks for is the recording permission listed as Screen & System Audio Recording, which is the system working correctly: software is about to read what you play, and you should get to say yes or no to that.

What alternatives to virtual-driver recording tools can capture audio on a Mac?

The alternatives to virtual-driver recording tools are the ones that capture through macOS itself: on a current Mac, every row below except BlackHole. Audio Hijack records one app or the whole system, Piezo an app or an input, OBS Studio the desktop or one app in a recorder built for video, and EQBase the full system mix. None of them touches your output device or asks for an administrator password.

Prices and features change; if something here is out of date, tell us.

How does recording the finished master compare with recording one app?

Recording the master gives you everything the Mac plays, summed into one file the way you heard it; recording one app gives you that app's sound and nothing else. Record the master to keep a listening session, a mix of several apps, or exactly what reached your speakers with your EQ applied. Record one app for a call, a podcast in a single browser tab, or a clean source to edit, where a notification chime or a second app would spoil the take.

What alternatives to app-by-app recording capture a Mac's finished master?

Four, depending on what you need around the recording:

• EQBase (free tier): records the master after its own EQ and limiter, so the file is exactly what your output device was handed. One click from the menu bar, six formats, no driver.
• Audio Hijack ($69): its System Audio source, in Rogue Amoeba's words, captures "all the audio heard on your Mac at once", and you can put processing blocks in front of the recorder.
• OBS Studio (free): the macOS Audio Capture source records the desktop mix on macOS 13 or later, into a video file you then extract the audio from.
• BlackHole with QuickTime or Audacity (free): the virtual-driver route, the one that still works on macOS versions before 13, at the costs listed above.

How do I make a quick recording of my Mac's processed playback without a separate recording app?

Use the recorder built into EQBase's menu bar: choose Start Recording, and it records what EQBase is playing, after the EQ and the limiter, straight to your recordings folder with no save dialog. Stop and Show in Finder ends it. You can also start and stop it without opening anything: ask Siri to "Start recording with EQBase", or run EQBase's Start or Stop Recording action from Spotlight or a Shortcut.

It records without a virtual audio driver: a normal EQBase setup installs no driver at all. Only two optional features use one, Audiophile mode and building a Pro routing device, and that is a user-space Core Audio driver installed on demand when you turn the feature on.

Recording something:

1. Play whatever you want to capture.
2. Click the EQBase icon in the menu bar and choose Start Recording. Recording starts straight away; nothing about your output changes. (The row is greyed out while EQBase is off, because it records what EQBase is playing.)
3. Click Stop and Show in Finder in the recording card that takes its place. The finished file is revealed in Finder.
4. To change the format or where files land, open the Recording pane in the sidebar. Recordings go to Music > EQBase Recordings by default, numbered so nothing is overwritten.
5. The same pane keeps live meters with clip warnings and a history of everything you have captured.

Two details that matter more than they sound:

• What it records is exactly what your output device is handed, sample for sample, after any EQ you're running. What you hear is what you keep. And if every control is flat, EQBase's chain is bit-perfect, so the file holds exactly the samples EQBase received from macOS.
• Nothing about your setup changes while recording. No output switching, no virtual device, and your volume control keeps working. Stopping a recording yourself reveals the file in Finder; automatic stops (a sample-rate change mid-recording, for instance) deliberately never yank a Finder window open over your work.

It can also record a microphone or instrument plugged in through Audio Sources, processed through the same EQ. Recording is part of the free tier, which has no time limit.

How do I record Mac playback into a lossless file?

Set EQBase's recording format to Apple Lossless, FLAC, WAV or AIFF, then start a recording from the menu bar. The file holds 24-bit audio at the sample rate your output runs at, after your EQ, with nothing lost to compression. Record only what you have the right to keep: your own music, a stream whose terms allow it, a call everyone on it agreed to record. EQBase writes the file to your Mac and uploads nothing.

1. Open EQBase's window and choose Recording in the sidebar.
2. Under Recording settings, set Format to Apple Lossless or FLAC for smaller files, or WAV or AIFF for files every editor opens. Save to picks the folder; Music > EQBase Recordings is the default.
3. Play what you want to capture, click the EQBase icon in the menu bar and choose Start Recording. For one recording in a different place or format, use Record to… in the Recording pane instead.
4. Click Stop and Show in Finder when it is done. The file has a numbered name, so an earlier take is never overwritten.

What to expect, and what can go wrong:

• An exact copy when nothing is applied. With every control flat, the file holds exactly the samples EQBase received from macOS. With EQ on, it holds what you heard.
• The recording level does not follow your volume keys on an output with its own volume control, such as built-in speakers or a USB DAC with a volume slider in Sound settings. On a fixed-volume HDMI or optical output, EQBase's own volume slider does that job, so its level is in the file.
• A sample-rate change ends the take. If the output switches rate mid-recording, EQBase finishes the file rather than mix two rates in one, and says so in the pane.
• Watch the meters. The Recording pane's Levels show what is landing in the file, with a warning if any samples clipped.

How do MP3, AAC, ALAC, FLAC, WAV and AIFF compare for recording Mac playback?

MP3 and AAC are lossy: small files that discard detail you mostly cannot hear, and on a Mac they stop at 48 kHz. ALAC and FLAC are lossless: every sample kept, in a file smaller than WAV. WAV and AIFF are uncompressed: the biggest files, and the ones every audio editor opens. Record lossy for voice and anything you will send in a message; record lossless for music or anything you may edit later.

Two format facts that surprise people. macOS ships no MP3 encoder: it plays MP3 fine but cannot create one, so any Mac tool offering MP3 recording brings its own (EQBase bundles the LAME encoder for exactly this reason). And Apple's AAC encoder stops at 48 kHz, so lossy recordings cap there whatever rate your output runs at, while the lossless formats keep the output's own rate, up to 192 kHz.

Common questions

How can I record audio playing on my Mac without installing a virtual audio driver?

Use a recorder that captures through macOS itself instead of a virtual device. On macOS 14.4 or later, EQBase (free), Audio Hijack and Piezo install no driver and ask once for the System Audio Recording permission; OBS Studio needs no driver either, capturing through Apple's ScreenCaptureKit on macOS 13 or later. Your output device and volume keys keep working. Before macOS 13, a driver such as BlackHole is still the only way.

Why is my Mac screen recording silent?

The built-in screen recorder captures video plus, at most, a microphone. The system mix, the audio you actually hear, is not an input device, so it is not on the list of things a screen recording can include. Third-party tools solve it by giving software a way to read that mix.

Does recording system audio need a permission?

Yes. macOS gates it behind the recording permission listed as Screen & System Audio Recording, and any honest tool triggers that prompt the first time. It is not microphone access: recording the system mix never opens your microphone. See our privacy policy for exactly what does and doesn't leave your Mac.

Can I record just one app, like a browser or a call?

Tools built for that exist: Audio Hijack is the specialist, and Piezo and OBS Studio can also capture a single app's output on its own. EQBase records the full system mix, so the practical route there is to quit the apps you don't want in the file, or, on Pro, mute their lanes in EQBase's App Mixer.

Which recording format should I pick?

For voice, AAC or MP3 are small and transparent enough. For music or anything you may edit later, record lossless: ALAC or FLAC for smaller files, WAV or AIFF for maximum compatibility. On macOS the lossy encoders cap at 48 kHz; lossless follows the system's sample rate up to 192 kHz.

Does recording change what I hear?

It shouldn't, and with a well-built tool it doesn't. EQBase's recorder mirrors the output stream rather than sitting in its path, so starting or stopping a recording never interrupts or alters playback, and your output device and volume keep working normally throughout.

Related

Per-app volume control on a Mac · Mac volume keys not working: why, and the fixes · Does macOS have a built-in equalizer?

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